“Don’t Swallow the Cap” by The National

Matt Berninger, the primary writer and main vocalist of “Don’t Swallow the Cap”, has clarified that neither the title nor lyrics have any sort of specific meaning. As far as the title goes, he may have been inspired by the fact that at the time he was minding his young son, who like all children had a tendency to put things in his mouth. So maybe on a subconscious level, Matt was telling the lad to be careful in that regard.

The Lyrics

Then as far as the lyrics go, he derived inspiration from Michael Stipe of R.E.M. fame. And as Berninger explained, some songs Stipe has written for said band tend to be sort of like artistic mumbling, where the listener is free to more or less derive his or her own meaning from what’s being said. 

Likewise with “Don’t Shallow the Cap”, there are enough words being thrown around that if a listener lets his or her brain drift or zone out, they may be able to put something comprehensive together. But even at times where it seems like the vocalist is going in one definitive direction, such as from the second verse into the third where he seems to be talking primarily about love, by the time the fourth verse rolls around, let’s just say it becomes obvious that the listener has to do most of their own interpreting.

But that said, the song eventually concludes, in part, with the vocalist celebrating that he’ll ‘never be alone’. And that also happens to be the most discernibly-recurring sentiment of this piece as far as the chorus is concerned. 

So once again going back to the genesis of the song, with Matt having been around his family and all, all things considered that’s perhaps what the lyrics serve as an ode to, i.e. the idea that now the vocalist has found steady companionship in his life.

When was “Don’t Swallow the Cap” released?

“Don’t Swallow the Cap”, which was released on 22 April 2013, dates back to The National’s third studio album, “Trouble Will Find Me”. 

To note, this song was also issued, by a UK-based label called 4AD, as a single from the aforementioned album. And in that regard, it did appear on Billboard’s Rock Digital Songs list stateside but fared better in Belgium, where is peaked at number seven.

Writing Credits

The song was written by three members of the crew (The National):

• Aaron Dessner
• Bryce Dessner
• Matt Berninger

The first two musicians on that list also produced the track.